Gurkha

A Gurkha is an Indian skirmisher.

Biography
The Gurkhas are a Nepalese ethnic group who originally claimed to be descendants of the northern India Rajputs, but who took their famous name from the small state of Gurkha in Nepal, which they conquered in the early sixteenth century. For 200 years, the Gurkhas expanded eastward, seeking to conquer all of Nepal. They succeeded, and by the mid-eighteenth century, the entire country was theirs and Hinduism was named the state religion. The Gurkhas attempted to invade Tibet but ultimately failed, and as war with the British broke out in India, they found their control waning. They did, however, discover a surprisingly fruitful partnership with the British occupational forces in India.

Known for their short, curved sword called a kukri, the Gurkhas served in the armies of India and Great Britain, where more than 200,000 soldiers fought alongside the British in World War I, and in forty battalions in World War II.